Chicago-based MillerCoors, the biggest U.S. competitor to the newly constituted Anheuser-Busch InBev, has picked a consortium of media agencies to handle its $400 million-plus media account.  

Three agencies — Draftfcb, Initiative, and Kinetic — won the competitive pitch to become MillerCoors’ media planning and buying “agency of record.” The three partners, organized under the Interpublic Group holding company, are forming a new, dedicated unit called MC Media. MC Media will buy and plan all general market media — not including digital — across MillerCoors’ brand portfolio.

MillerCoors is a combination of Miller of Milwaukee and Coors of Colorado. The recently-formed joint venture is trying to ramp up the growth of its brands, which include Keystone, Miller Lite, Coors Light, Blue Moon and Miller Genuine Draft. The company is going through a transition not entirely unlike Anheuser-Busch’s — combining two companies into one, with lots of cost-cutting and angst along the way. Meanwhile, some of its brands (Coors Light) are doing very well, while others (Miller Lite) are not.

MillerCoors is trying to get all of its beer brands to work together rather than steal from each other. One top executive told the Post-Dispatch last year that Miller Lite and Coors Light “have very distinct equities.” (One story is here). For MillerCoors, the choice of a media agency was perhaps more important than ever.

“The MillerCoors’ portfolio is a collection of distinctive beer brands,” said Jackie Woodward, MillerCoors’ vice president of marketing services. The winning team “displayed knowledge of the industry and a passion to win that we think will serve us well in this tremendously competitive and ever-changing industry.”

MillerCoors is now setting its sights on selecting a Hispanic media agency of record. The company says that decision will be made before the end of the year. Advertising Age has the story here.